Baby It's Cold Outside
by miss Amysong
Summary: Alec has never really been a fan of parties...especially not the Christmas themed fancy dress kind, which involves wearing hideous costumes. But if his gorgeous boyfriend Magnus Bane is going, then how bad can it be?


A/N

 **Hey so if you haven't read my grovelling on the last update on Alec Lightwoods guide to romance, then this is basically my apology for not updating for ages and not being able to update In the near future. I have a lot on at school and I'm finding it hard enough juggling work, friends, boyfriend, family and hobbies and plays as well as my gold arts award. So yeah. Sorry but unfortunately I have to prioritize rl if I want to go to a good uni. This one shot is set around the time of the latest chapter of ALGTR but probs won't be mentioned in the actual fic. It's Christmas themed as well as I love Christmas! I hope you enjoy and sorry for being such an ass.**

 **Baby It's Cold Outside**

"This is stupid….I feel stupid " Alec whined unhappily tugging at the hem of the costume he had been coerced into wearing.

"You look adorable Alec, now please hold still" Clary muttered sticking out her tongue in concentration as she artfully arranged his hair. She herself was wearing a short red dress hemmed with white full and a classic red Santa hat. This, along with her ginger hair created an effect similar to that on a traffic light, the excess of red triggering a subconscious (and rather unsettling) warning.

"There," she finally said stepping back to admire her work, "you look so cute". Frowning slightly at her choice of adjective Alec peered into the mirror, and then groaned. He was dressed as an elf. Not a hot legolas elf or even a mysterious spiderwick elf. No he was dressed in bright green trousers with a red top with a green zig-zag hem at the top that sprouted tiny bells. On his head was a pointed green hat with yet another bell (yay). Clary had also thought it a good idea to curl a large strand of hair that poked out from his hat and cover his cheeks with pink blusher.

"No" he said.

Clary looked at him, annoyed and amused. "What?"

"There is no way in hell….or heaven..that I am ever…..EVER letting anyone see me like this."

"But Alec-"

"-no no no no no no no". He stomped over to clary's bed (they were in her dorm room) and sat down, arms crossed.

"Alec you have to come to the Christmas party! Everyone is going, it's gonna be fun!"

Alec just gave her a withering look and picked up her copy of "a tale of two cities", feigning interest.

"Fine" Clary sighed, grabbing her phone, "you leave me no choice". Alec ignored her as she dialled, nothing was going to convince him to go to a stupid fancy dress party dressed in a stupid costume, except-

"Hey Magnus…..yeah…..huh you're already there are you…...well you see that's the problem, I'm not sure if he will come…..I know…...I told him….shall I hand you over to him?...ok, cya soon"

She held out the phone to Alec, expression smug. He scowled but begrudgingly took it. Taking a deep breath and summoning every last ounce of stubbornness he said "look, before you start with your begging, I am not coming, I look ridiculous and everyone will laugh at me"

A smooth chuckle sounded down the line, "Alec sweetie, I thought you liked my begging" the voice purred.

Alec blushed, but worked hard to maintain his scowl (even though Magnus couldn't actually see it).

"What are you wearing?" Magnus asked in a suddenly soft tone.

"An elf costume" Alec huffed, "with blusher and everything!"

"Well I'm sure you look positively adorable"

"Well I don't think-"

"I would very much like to see this costume, and I could do with a little helper of my own" Magnus said, his voice resuming his seductive tone once more.

"B-but i-"

"And don't you want to see my costume Alec? I put in a lot of effort and it would make me sad if it was all for nothing." His smooth, sexy voice with just the right amount of petulance hit Alec hard and he could feel his resistance fading. "Can't you come here?" He asked weakly.

"oh but I can't walk across the whole off campus in my costume, it's too cold and you see…..I don't have that much on"

Alec felt his jaw slacken and he closed his eyes in defeat. "Fine," he grumbled, "I'll be there in 10". He hung up with a huff, not wanting to her Magnus' victory whooping.

"Let's go then I guess" he sighed, walking past Clary who was trying to hide her grin.

When they finally reached the party, they were greeted by an excited Jace, dressed as Santa, beard and padding included. "Merry Christmas" he yelled, grabbing Clary and kissing her enthusiastically (Alec even thought he saw a bit of beard enter the mix) before slapping Alec on the back. Simon came up behind him wearing a top with the slogan "sorry….I'm Jewish" and looking exasperated.

"He's literally been like this all afternoon" Simon whined, "he won't stop singing Mariah Carey."

"It's my favorite Christmas song" jace added proudly. Clary just have him a bemused look and led him off into the party.

"So um….how's Isabelle? " Simon asked fiddling with his glasses.

"Yeah she's fine" Alec replied warily, "she just didn't feel like coming tonight". The truth was that Isabelle had become extremely paranoid and refused to see any of her or Alec's friends as she was sure they'd be able to tell she was pregnant. Instead Alec was pretty sure she was binge watching that model program that she was (in his opinion) terribly addicted to.

"Ah…..well I hope to see her soon and…..yeah, just tell her I miss her" he turned and walked away, leaving Alec with a growing sense of horror as he added another suspect to his list of potential baby daddies

Before he could contemplate his suspicions further however, hands grabbed his shoulders making him start suddenly. "Happy Christmas, my little elf" a voice breathed in Alec's ear causing him to roll his eyes (despite blushing). He turned to face his boyfriend, unable to hide his grin.

However when he saw what Magnus was wearing his smile froze. The other man wore a pair of brown fluffy leggings, an antlered headband, a pair of fur covered wristbands…...and nothing else. His hair was styled into a messy disarray and his swirling eyes were lined with gold and black. He looked positively edible, Alec couldn't help but think as he tried (and failed) to look away from Magnus' tanned and toned chest.

"Weeeellll, what do you think?" Magnus asked, smirking.

"I...yeah….you look….yum.."

"Yum?" Magnus giggled.

"I..erm" Alec blinked and tried to focus on what he was saying. "You look great…"

"Thanks sweetie" Magnus purred, stepping closer, "You look adorably delicious yourself."

Alec felt his cheeks begin to burn but he ignored them, instead cupping Magnus' jaw and pulling him in for a soft kiss.

Drawing back, they looked at each other and Alec felt his stomach clench with the sheer emotional intensity of the moment. He felt he should laugh or cry or kiss Magnus as hard as he could, but before he could do any of those things, the song changed and he was dragged towards the dance floor by an excited Magnus.

Despite Alec's insistence that he could not and would not dance, he was forced to spend quite a few songs stood in the space as Magnus pulled him around and danced against him. Alec finally managed to drag his boyfriend away from the spotlight by feigning extreme thirst.

They had just grabbed a mulled wine each when Magnus spotted someone entering the room and waved them over. As she neared Alec recognised the girl as Tessa, dressed in a red lace dress. She looked better that she had in the hospital, skin not quite so sallow and under eye bags gone, although, Alec thought, it could just be her make up.

"How are you doing Tessy" Magnus asked after hugging her tight and kissing her cheek.

She gave a small smile, although her eyes stayed drab. "Yeah I'm doing ok….." She cleared her throat and shifted her weight, " I tried to get Will to come but he wouldn't leave Jem." Alec bit his lip nervously while Magnus nodded sympathetically.

"How is h-"

"-he's the same…...not worse but not better. I don't know sometimes I wonder if….but I'm sure he'll wake up soon"

Alec shifted slightly unsure what to say, but luckily Magnus spoke, "Well Tessy whatever happens just know that we are all here for you and anytime you want to talk or just hang out you come to us. We have all suffered pain and can try and help you through"

Alec nodded in agreement and reached out to gently pat Tessa's shoulder (a bit awkwardly yes, but it was the thought that counted).

"Thanks guys" she sniffed, "that means alot to me and Will, although you'd never hear him say it" she chuckled wetly. "Anyway, I should go and say hi to the others now, I don't plan to stay that much longer" then with one last, small smile, she turned and trudged off into the crowd. Alec watched her go, sadly, his mind running through the potentially terrible outcomes of Jem's situation

"I worry about what will happen to the them if Jem does…...well...you know"

Magnus wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed gently. "Me too. But at least they have each other, they're strong enough to carry on".

They stood in silence for a while until Magnus leaned down and whispered " want to take a walk with me gorgeous". Alec nodded shyly and accepted the offered hand. Together they made their way through the other party goers and out into the grounds.

"Don't you just love the feeling of the snow beneath you feet" Magnus exclaimed, smiling brightly. "I remember playing in the snow for hours when I was little, my mum had to practically drag me inside". Alec chuckled, imagining little Magnus being carried inside, begging for just a few more minutes outside.

"Well me and Izzy used to have competitions for everything. Like who could build the best snowman or make the best snow angel. One time Izzy dared me to eat some dirty snow she found by our shed, which made me really sick of course."

Magnus snorted at that and he pulled Alec closer, wrapping an arm around his waist.

They stopped in front of a large frozen pond, its shiny surface glittering dully in the moonlight. Alec wondered how far down the ice went before it became water, if it did at all, he supposed he could get a stick and find out, but that would just give Magnus an excuse to make jokes about Alec's nerdiness.

"Hey you know what we should do!" Magnus said suddenly excited, "we should slide across the pond, like ice skating but without skates"

"Err Magnus I'm not sure that's a good idea. What if the Ice breaks and we fall through and get trapped." Alec said nervously.

"Hmm, well we'll be careful, here I'll test it first," Magnus said. Then, without the slightest hesitation he strode out onto the pond. Alec held his breath in anticipation but Magnus made his way safely across the pond. Alec sighed in relief, rolling his eyes at Magnus' fist pumping and then again as his boyfriend shouted "who's the motherfucking boss" at the pond.

Spotting a large, flat piece of wood under a nearby tree, Alec had an idea. He broke the wood into four bits and ran over to Magnus. "Hey he said breathlessly, if we tie these bits of wood to our shoes we can skate! The wood is smooth so it should work and we can use our shoelaces to tie the wood on."

Magnus grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him passionately, "that's a fab idea smarty pants! Let's get to work" with that he grabbed the wood and started to tie it to his feet enthusiastically.

Alec tried to scowl as he muttered "I told you not to call me that" but he probably sounded more amused than anything else.

"But its the perfect nickname" Magnus retorted straightening up, "cause I love your smart little brain and your sexy little pants" with that his hands dropped from their position on Alec's back down to grab at his ass, causing Alec to squeal and push Magnus away, blushing furiously.

"Come on you lovely boy, let's go have some fun" Magnus teased, pulling Alec towards their shabby, but private ice rink.

They stepped gingerly on to the ice, their feet slipping due to the smooth wood. Alec, being horribly clumsy, grabbed onto Magnus arm as they began to slide around the pond, being dragged around more than moving himself. After some general circuits of their rink, Magnus extracted himself from Alec's tight grip and took his hands instead, skating in a circle and pulling Alec with him. The carefree feeling of the ice below him, the cold night air and his boyfriend warm grip caused Alec to laugh gleefully and begin to lead Magnus around the rink as they spun around in their own little dance, to the faint sound of baby its cold outside playing from the party.

However Alec got a little too confident in his skating abilities and spun a little wildly, causing him to trip and fall on his bum…...and then straight through the ice.

The coldness was piercing. It seemed to sweep right through him, leaving him unaware of anything but the sheer, sharp icyness of the water around him. He kicked his foot out, hitting something hard, which caused his direction to change slightly. He madly kicked again, using his arms this time, desperate to reach the surface and relieve his shaking lungs.

He rose through the cold and towards the night, only to find himself pressed against a wall of ice.

His heart beat fast as he tried frantically to use his clumsy hands to break free of his prison.

Then suddenly the ice around him broke turning his world to chaos. He kicked and struggled among the ice until he finally broke free and gulped in the night air. Strong arms grasped him under the armpits and hoisted him out of the water completely, dragging him onto snowy grass.

As soon as he regained his breathing he started violently shivering, despite his fatigued body. The arms wrapped around him tightly, the bare skin of the other person burning hot.

"Alec, sweetie it's ok, you're safe and I'm taking you inside to get warm."

Alec realised he was being carried, and tried to open his eyes and focus on his surroundings.

He was pressed against a warm coffee coloured chest that was also shaking slightly from the cold and they were walking through the grounds towards a party. Alec looked down at his own clothes and giggled. He must look ridiculous dressed in a sopping wet elf costume, he bet his makeup had run as well.

When they reached the edge of the party Magnus (Alec knew it was him as soon as he spoke) called out to a tiny, dark skinned girl dressed in a tinselly dress smoking just outside the building. "Hey, Sammy, could you go inside and get Tessa, Clary and Jace please, oh and the other one….er...solomon I think he's called." The girl nodded and dropped her cigarette, strolling into the house.

"Simon" Alec rasped.

"What was that sweetie" Magnus' emerald eyes looked down at him concerned.

"You know he's called Simon" Alec said, his voice croaky and small.

Magnus rolled his eyes "yes but I'm the cool one, I can't be seen associating with too many nerds" he teased, tweaking Alec's nose and causing the boy to scowl at him.

"ALEC!"

Alec looked around sharply at the sound of his name being called, causing white dots to dance in his vision.

Clary was running towards them, her little dress flapping up as she moved. Tessa, Jace and Simon followed, matching looks of concern on their faces.

"Alec what's wrong? You absolutely soaking!" She reached out to examine his face for any sign of injury. "God you're freezing" she exclaimed looking even more worried.

"He fell in the pond" Magnus explained causing Alec to splutter indignantly.

"Er that's not quite how it happened Magnus" he exclaimed and wishing that he was standing on the ground so his hand could be sassily on his hip.

Everyone turned to look at Magus, shocked. Jace stepped forward threateningly, the effect slightly ruined by his stuffed Santa belly, "I swear to god Bane, if you pushed him in the pond I will kill you, I know you're some kind of freaky karate ninja, but I will find a way"

Alec rolled his eyes at Jace's dramatics, before shivering violently. Magnus tightened his grip on Alec before saying "yes yes it was all my fault, I had a stupid idea to go ice skating, because I used to always do it at Christmas when I was little and I thought it would be fun but….I was an utter idiot to put Alec at risk and you can guarantee that I'm beating myself up enough at the moment without your input." He took a deep shaky breath and Alec was shocked to see years in his eyes. "Anyway we need to get Alec inside before he gets hypothermia or some shit"

A few hours later saw Alec curled up against Magnus on the sofa in his flat, covered in blankets and nursing a hot chocolate. It was almost midnight and everyone had left about an hour ago, hugging Alec and promising to check up on him the next day.

Alec himself was feeling warm and content, finally free of the hideous elf costume and dressed in a pair of Magnus' sweats.

Magnus himself was very unusually quiet, staring out the window, stroking patterns along Alec's neck and shoulder. Alec reached up and caressed his boyfriend's cheek, turning his head to face Alec's.

"You don't really think it was your fault" Alec whispered tracing magnus' angular jaw, "me falling into the pond"

Magnus bit his lip and swallowed, "it was my fault Alec, I just….I was silly and I didn't think about what could happen, as usual I was reckless and completely selfish." He looked away from Alec, "you could have been really hurt and it would have been my fault." Magnus reached up and wiped furiously at his eyes as they watered, a tear slipping down his cheek.

Alec put down his hot chocolate and shifted onto his knees, wrapping his arm around Magnus and pulling him into a long, gentle kiss. He could feel the wetness of Magnus' cheek against his and Alec gently ran his fingers through Magnus dark hair, in an attempt to calm him.

He pulled away and looked gently into Magnus' eyes, "don't ever apologise for being yourself Maggie," he murmured. "Your silly attempts to be romantic are one of the things I love most about you, especially when you succeed. Anyway, I'm meant to be the sensible one. I shouldn't have agreed to do the ice skating but I did, so it's not your fault. I guess we are both complete fools in love and if anyone is to blame it's film makers who put adorable ice skating scenes in their rom coms."

Magnus chuckled wetly and pulled Alec into a tight hug. "I really love you you know" he muttered into Alec's ear.

Alec smiled against Magnus' neck, feeling inexplicably warm and content, "I love you too, and despite almost drowning, I've had a wonderful time"

He pulled back and kissed Magnus softly, their hands entwining under the blankets, warm, despite the snow that continued to fall outside the window.

 **A/N**

 **Happy Christmas Folks, although it was like three days ago.**

 **I'm living vicariously through malec by putting snow in this fic, it was a rainy Christmas in England :(**

 **So again I'm going to rehash the fact that I honestly don't think I'll update ALGTR before my exams, unless I get a sudden flash of inspiration. However I will try and finish it before I go to uni in September.**

 **I know I'm a total jerk**

 **Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, I know I did!**

 **Lots of virtual love (and apologies)**

 **Amy**

 **Xxx**


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